some cool things in Budapest.

There are some things that Rambo and I did in Hungary that haven’t made it on here yet. Mostly because they were places that didn’t allow photography. Regardless, they are places that you should defo check out in Budapest.

1. The House of Terror Museum. or Terror Háza Múzeum in magyar. This museum is all about life under the watchful and obedient eyes of the Arrow Cross (the Nazi-controlled party in Hungary) and the Communist Party (magyar kommunista párt). Obviously, since the Arrow Cross didn’t really become a leading party in Hungary until near the end of the War, most of the museum focuses on the Communist Party. The museum is primarily in Hungarian, which isn’t too useful for tourists, so they have sheets of paper in every room for you to take to read what the room is about and the stories of life in Hungary under the control of the Party. All of the videos are subtitled as well.

This museum is housed in what was the headquarters of both the Arrow Cross and the Communists. They used to hold and interrogate/torture people believed to not be in support of the Party here in this building.

The outside of the building has these wee photos in a row just at eye level that goes just about around the whole building. Not being able to read Hungarian, I wondered who they were. Inside they said that these are the known victims of the Arrow Cross and Communist Parties.

Just outside the Terror House is a memorial to the Iron Curtain that is literally an iron curtain. I thought that was super clever of them.

2. One of my favorite things that we did was the free Communist Walking Tour with Anna. It was really interesting to hear about Communism from someone who grew up (albeit she was only like 8 when Hungary entered its post-communism era). She shared stories about her family and told some really funny jokes about life under communist rule. Rambo was pleased that there wasn’t a whole lot of walking. It’s mostly sitting and listening with a little walking from one place to another.

This was the nuclear bomb shelter for the politicians. Apparently it’s still functional and quite fancy – as far as bomb shelters go.

We went to MTV headquarters. That’s Magyar Televízió (or Hungarian Television). The building is actually not in use anymore, but people do often use it for films.

Apparently when they were filming the Moscow scenes from the last Die Hard film, some little old lady thought that Russia had invaded Hungary and taken control again. She had no idea who Bruce Willis was and nearly had a heart attack. It took them a while to convince her that it was, in fact, a film and that Hungary was still sovereign.

This is the last Soviet memorial still standing in Budapest. Conveniently located in Liberty Square. Next to the American Embassy. This was the only memorial that Russia was insistent that would remain standing – so that the Americans would have to see it everyday. Good one, Russia.

See that yellow building? That’s the embassy.

Also in Liberty Square (facing directly towards the Soviet memorial) is a statue of one of the most remembered American presidents: Ronald Reagan. They have him “walking” from Parliament after getting business done.

The Soviets (and the Communists in Hungary) didn’t bother fixing any of the bulletholes from the Siege of Budapest. As long as the building was still structurally sound, they just left them there. As someone fascinated by history, I loved being able to actually see history. It’s not often that you can look at something and know that millions of people have been seeing the same thing for almost 70 years.

3. In the Royal Cellars of the Buda Castle they have a really cool exhibit on spies. It is super informative and interesting. They have all kinds of spy equipment – from listening devices to cameras to transmitters. We ended up having a private tour cause no one else was there at that time. It’s by guided tour only. We also saw the old well for the castle. The water was so clear that you could practically see to the bottom. It was as clear as bottled water – no joke. They don’t allow any photos and the exhibit closes on 31 December 2013. So if you’re near Budapest before then, you should seriously check it out.

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2 comments

That House of Terror Museum sounds really interesting. I was completely unaware of that place on my first trip to Budapest, but I’ll definitely keep it mind for my next visit. Loving the iron curtain! Thanks for sharing.